Finance Committee on Feb. 5th, 2026

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to touch on the personal support workers tax credit now.

Personal support workers play, of course, vital roles in our communities. It's important for us, as the government, to help them and support their work.

Bill C-15 lays out a five-year personal support workers tax credit.

Minister, could you explain how much these workers will be able to claim and how much this will benefit everyone in their communities?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

It's rare that I take the opportunity to speak on behalf of everyone, because it's not easy, but I think we all want to thank the personal support workers. I think we've seen the essential roles they play in our communities and in the lives of our family members, neighbours and friends.

I can say—because I have the floor now, uninterrupted—thank you to all of them who are watching today: Thank you for what you do. We hear you. We see you. We value the work you're doing. I think I speak on behalf of all members of Parliament. To those who are watching, I just want to say a big thank you.

You're right. We introduced a personal support workers tax credit that will provide up to $1,100 per year to eligible personal support workers. This is very much welcome. It's a way to say we recognize their work. During the pandemic, I think everyone realized people like them—frontline workers, emergency personnel, etc.... Our society relies on these people to function.

Many times, maybe, we have taken for granted the extraordinary work they do for Canadians and communities across our nation. This is really a boost for them. A lot of members in this House have been with us on the journey to recognize their work, to say to them that we appreciate them, and to offer the support that they deserve for the very important role they play in our society.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Absolutely. Thank you, Minister.

I'll move on to a new topic. We're also very focused right now on fostering investment and innovation.

Budget 2025 is clear that Canada's long-term prosperity is dependent on increasing productivity and crowding in private investment, especially in strategic sectors. To boost productivity and attract investments, the budget also introduced a productivity superdeduction, which is a set of tax incentives that cover the new capital investment and allow businesses to write off a larger share of the cost investment, making it easier for businesses to invest and grow.

I'm personally very happy to hear just how competitive Canada will now be among all of the other countries. I think that's really important right now. We're already starting to see some of the outcomes of that, with investment into our country and deals with other countries as well.

I know it's an especially challenging time, given the threat of tariffs, so, Minister, could you explain how allowing businesses to immediately expense the cost of new machinery, technology and equipment will help accelerate capital investments? How will that improve investment certainty for firms that are planning on major, long-term, capital-intensive projects?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

First of all, let me say that this is a great question. That's why it's great to be sitting in Parliament with members like you, from a younger generation, who are joining the ranks and really looking forward. This is because a lot of the measures in this budget are about the future. They're about young people. They're about people like you or those you represent. It's great.

The productivity superdeduction is a game-changer. For other members who have maybe been sitting here for a few more years, this has been the conundrum in Canada. I can think of the economists in the room. Increasing productivity in this country is something that the country has been trying to address for a number of decades. This is our effort to really change the course and to make capital investment a national priority to support businesses in investing more in plant equipment, machinery, technology, AI and robotics. We need to make sure that our industries are more productive.

You're right. In the world we live in, we have to take all the measures we can to make our businesses more productive, open new markets, remove bottlenecks, improve our trade corridors and put tools in the tool box to enable SMEs to invest.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Absolutely. I think it's very important to—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

That's great.

Thank you, Mr. Sawatzky.

Mr. Lefebvre, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Minister, on page 96 of the 2025 budget, it says: “The government recognises the role temporary foreign workers play in some sectors of the economy and in some parts of the country. To that end, the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan will consider industries and sectors impacted by tariffs and the unique needs of rural and remote communities.”

My constituency is located in one of the regions of Quebec where the unemployment rate is low.

Can you explain this quote from the budget?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Thank you for the question.

Mr. Lefebvre, thank you for the work you are doing.

Basically, we have aligned temporary and permanent immigration levels with our capacity to accommodate newcomers. I have always said that we need to bring this down to a more sustainable level in the long term.

We have seen this in Quebec in particular, and perhaps more so in metropolitan areas or large cities than in rural areas. This refers to the capacity to accommodate people in terms of housing, schools and hospitals.

When we admit people into our country, we have a responsibility to ensure that they can find adequate housing and send their children to school. If they ever need health services, we must have the capacity to provide them. That’s the general idea.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

I agree with you, Minister. However, it says: “…will take into account the industries and sectors affected by customs duties as well as the specific needs of rural communities…”.

What do you mean by that?

In large cities, we have hit a wall in terms of accommodation, housing and schools.

What is your response to businesses?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

We are certainly very aware of the reality, as you said, and I thank you for pointing that out. The urban reality and the rural reality are different when it comes to immigration. As you know, my constituency is larger than Belgium. You are speaking to someone who understands this reality.

The budget states that we will take this reality into account. We want to attract talent to the regions in certain trades, for example. This must be taken into account when developing policy. That is exactly what we asked the ministerto do, namely, to take this regional reality into account.

Basically, you are referring to a difference between urban and rural areas that exists throughout the country. That is a reality. I am thinking in particular of the need for welders. You probably face this challenge in your region, as is the case in mine. We need to be able to—

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Minister, allow me to interrupt you, because my speaking time is limited.

Let me give you a specific example.

In my riding, welders have been working for a trailer manufacturer for years. Their wives are integrated into the community, and their children go to school. They contribute to the economy, to the economic development of this company, to the economy of Quebec and to that of Canada.

Are you for or against a grandfather clause for these people?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

You are right to mention that. I have also seen this kind of situation. People with temporary worker status have been with us for years. Their children, who arrived when they were very young, are now in high school.

We are, of course, working with the minister to look at the specific cases of these people who, as you say, are truly integrated into their communities, both yours and mine.

It was to a degree with this in mind that we developed the budget. In other words, we need to consider measures for these people who were technically called temporary workers, but who, as you say, have already been in the communities for—

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Excuse me, Minister.

Since these people contribute to economic development and are integrated into communities, are you in favour of introducing a grandfather clause?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

As I said, this is something we are taking into account. That is why the budget mentions that we are aware of the reality of the various regions, which differ from one another. There is also the issue of workers who have temporary status but who have been with us for quite some time.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Minister, you are a seasoned politician. Are you for or against a grandfather clause?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

I know you would like me to give you a black-and-white answer. In the budget, what we are saying is that we are opening the door and that we want to take this reality into account. We have set ourselves the goal of bringing this back to reasonable levels, while taking into account the reality of rural and urban areas.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Minister, I would now like to move on to another topic.

Earlier, I quoted Mr. Leitão. I will now quote you, Minister.

On September 2, 2025, you said: “The service delays and access difficulties Canadians are experiencing at call centres are unacceptable.” We are talking here about delays at the Canada Revenue Agency, or CRA.

What has been done since then?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I’m sorry, Mr. Lefebvre, but your speaking time is up.

We will continue now with Mr. MacDonald for five minutes.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you, Chair.

Minister, I'm going to get back on the infrastructure stream in budget 2025. In budget 2025, for the first time, we've announced $5 billion dedicated to health care infrastructure. I know smaller provinces like P.E.I. are challenged with delivering health care at the same standard as the rest of Canada. Doctor recruiting, health care worker recruiting and retention are real factors because, in a lot of cases, these people have lots of opportunities to go to work wherever they choose. When you have aged and older infrastructure and facilities, it's hard to attract them to rural Canada and rural P.E.I.

I'm optimistic. In my Cardigan riding there's Kings County Memorial Hospital. The provincial government has dedicated some funds to that. What is the process for the provincial government? How is this stream going to work? Are those details ready to release yet? Can you update me on that?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

First of all, I just want to say it's a great question. I'm happy that you focus on that, because this is new.

For Canadians watching at home, the chair would know that the federal government, to my knowledge at least, has never been involved in health infrastructure in this country, and Mr. Garon and others would be happy to say we have responded to a request by the provinces. The provinces were saying, we're facing aging infrastructure. Can you give us a hand? We say we're happy to do our part, because we understand this is about meeting Canadians where they are. It's the same thing with groceries and rent in a sense.

Some people, when they visited these facilities, asked, can we do more to modernize, to upgrade? This is a great way for us to partner with provinces and territories and say, let's upgrade some of these facilities. It matters a lot when you're in a province like Prince Edward Island, as you said, because some of these facilities have been aging. The fiscal constraint of the province is limited sometimes. You'd be happy now.

Premier Moe will be happy that I'm referring to him, because I was with him yesterday. Premier Moe, from Saskatchewan, was in my office trying to see projects like that on the health side. This is a new fund of $5 billion that has been dedicated. There's an open invitation for premiers to come see me and look at what's on the table, with Minister Robertson, who has that as part of the infrastructure portfolio.

If there was one thing we did in the budget, based on my conversations with ministers of finance across the nation, this is one about which they say the federal government understood the pressure they were facing and responded presently. We're happy to do our part.

This is new. For every Canadian, the federal government has never been, as you would know, in health infrastructure. Considering the needs across the nation, we decided to allocate funding to support provinces in refurbishing, upgrading and renovating some of these facilities across the country.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I'm going to pivot into another category.

I've heard a lot of debate in the last two or three months over the price of food. The opposition talks about the need to remove the industrial carbon tax, the need to take the regulations off fuel. Their theory is that this is going to somehow magically lower grocery store prices. The one thing I will agree with the opposition on is that competition at the grocery stores is important. I think we took measures this week to help in that way.

You quote your mother sometimes. I'm going to quote my father. I grew up on a farm. We had good potato prices when someone else had poor crops. Supply and demand, to simplify it, controls a lot of what happens at the grocery store. I want you to comment on that statement. Do you agree with it?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

I'm happy you quote your dad, just as I quote my mom. I don't know if she's watching today. You're right. You're basically saying there's no magic bullet, and Canadians understand that.

We need to increase food security. I want to applaud you, your father and your family, because people like you are the ones who feed the nation. What we announced in Bill C-19 was support for people like you and your family. We're asking how we can grow, how we can have a more resilient supply chain. I know it doesn't fit the narrative of the Conservatives, but those are facts. When you import 30% of your produce, going to 80% in winter, you're subject to currency fluctuation, climate change events, droughts and supply and demand, because you don't produce domestically. It's the same thing with respect to livestock, when it comes to beef, poultry and pork. We just need to have more in the country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I apologize, but that concludes the time. I'm sorry.

Mr. Garon, you have the floor.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to ask the minister to provide us with written details on what has been done and on the performance evaluation criteria for service delays at the CRA. I think this would be beneficial to the committee.

Before asking my question, Minister, I would like to make an important observation.

As you know, the budget affects people in their daily lives. Sometimes there are unintended consequences. Public libraries in Quebec are concerned because section 2 of the bill exempts Canada Post from the requirement to have its rate changes approved by the cabinet. You are probably not aware of this.

We are told that Quebec libraries are concerned because this will likely affect the preferential rates they have obtained, among other things, to send books to people with visual impairments. These people need Braille books, for example.

I don’t necessarily want us to have a debate on this, but could you follow up on what can be done? I think Quebeckers would be grateful to you.

I will now turn to the issue of the clean technology investment tax credit, particularly with regard to clean electricity.

This tax credit includes the use of small modular nuclear reactors. Officials told us this when they came to testify. As you know, producing oil from tar sands requires energy for the filtering process. It is a heavy industrial process. We are told that this tax credit will, in fact, be available to the people who produce the most polluting oil in the world.

In your opinion, is it clean electricity when electricity is produced to obtain the most polluting oil in the world?

How much will this tax credit cost exactly for oil companies that will use nuclear power plants?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

First, with regard to your first question about libraries, we will confirm this with the department before providing you with an answer. As you said, there are several measures in the budget.

From memory, I believe we have protected that in the implementation. You mentioned the Canada Post exemption, but I believe there are specific measures in place to maintain the status quo in that regard.